by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA - If this was Johnny Manziel's final college game, it was everything his career has been: Unpredictable, volatile and so, so entertaining.

It also couldn't have been a sweeter way to go out.

After doing everything in his power to drag Texas A&M into the national spotlight the past two seasons, he might have saved the best for last on Tuesday, leading the Aggies to the biggest comeback in school history and a 52-48 Chick-fil-A Bowl victory against No. 21 Duke.

"It's an unreal feeling," Manziel said. "To come back from that â?¦ wow. That's the word I'd use to describe this game. Unreal. It's an NCAA instant classic."

Trailing 38-17 at halftime, Manziel led the Aggies to four consecutive touchdown drives, then watched as Toney Hurd intercepted Duke quarterback Anthony Boone and ran it back for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:33 remaining to take the lead for the first time all night.

Duke converted a fourth down with 1:48 remaining to give itself one more chance, but the Aggies intercepted Boone again with 1:19 left, capping off a 9-4 season and a raucous celebration at the Georgia Dome.

"I thought we pressed early and we were just a little off," Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "We had a discussion at half about doing your job, be accountable. As a coach, two of the greatest complements you can get is that your team plays hard and never quits and that kind of leadership comes rom the locker room."

Before the game, a throng of more than 50 photographers crowded in a corner of the end zone at the Georgia Dome to snap pictures of Manziel's warm-up, a testament to his star power and the overwhelming sense that he will declare for the NFL Draft in the coming days.

He delivered a performance worthy of that status, completing 30-of-38 passes (12-of-13 in the second half) for 382 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 73 yards and a touchdown, overcoming a near-disastrous performance by the Texas A&M defense.

Duke, which had 661 yards of total offense, finished the year 10-4.

"We prevented some of the big plays for a while," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "We made them work, which is difficult to do. But we got beat by turning the ball over and by a great football player."

Even if Manziel comes back for a redshirt junior year, it would be hard to top this. Though Texas A&M's season didn't live up to expectations, and Manziel wasn't able to win a second consecutive Heisman Trophy, he couldn't script a more fitting end to his time as a college player.

Senior tackle Jake Matthews, who said he didn't know what Manziel would decide, noted that his quarterback was more "riled up" for this game than any other in his college career, an attitude that had permeated throughout practice this week and carried over into the game.

Even when Duke scored with stunning ease on its first three possessions of the game to take a 21-3 lead, Manziel could be seen on the sidelines firing up everyone from the defensive staff to the special teams units.

"The main thing I kept stressing to everybody was don't look at the scoreboard," he said.

Still, it looked bleak for Texas A&M when Josh Snead scored on a 25-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left in the first half for a 35-17 lead and then Duke promptly recovered an onsides kick, tacking on a field goal before going to the locker room.

"We just broke it down in little increments," Matthews said. "The mindset completely changed. Coach Sumlin said at halftime, 'If you don't believe we can come back, stay in the locker room.' "

Texas A&M's defense promptly got consecutive stops to begin the second half, and Manziel suddenly had an opening that he was all to eager to run through.

A classic Manziel play â?? running into a mess of bodies, hurdling a linebacker to avoid a sack, then backpedaling to get away from pressure â?? resulted in a 19-yard touchdown toss to Travis Labhart with 9:55 left in the third quarter. Just 4:50 later, he pulled the Aggies within 38-31 on a six-play, 70-yard drive capped off by Tra Carson's 21-yard touchdown run.

Though Duke responded with a 20-yard field goal to stop the avalanche, it set the stage for Manziel's furious finish.

After Duke took a 48-38 lead, it took Manziel only three plays â?? including a 20-yard out to Malcome Kennedy and a 44-yard touchdown throw to Derel Walker with 5:44 left â?? to bring the Aggies back within striking range.

The only thing that could have made it more legendary was if Manziel had scored the winning touchdown himself. Of course, he didn't have a problem with the way it turned out.

"I feel like they dared us to beat one-on-one coverage," Manziel said. "If the jump does happen, they like to play man in the NFL. One incompletion in the whole second half, that's a pretty good deal for me and our receivers. It was unreal how things have played out in my career, and I'm just extremely proud to play for this team."